Decriminalizing Shoplifting: Is That a Good Thing?
by CAPP-USA
The Rise in Shoplifting
No. For example, in 2014 California changed a longstanding law classifying shoplifting as a felony to a misdemeanor for goods valued under $950. The result has been to functionally legalize shoplifting, as law enforcement will not devote the manpower, cost, and paperwork to pursue misdemeanors.
The result? Increased theft, coarsening of society, and harm to the poor.
The rise in shoplifting shows a disregard for the right to private property.
“The seventh commandment requires…respect for the right to private property”. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2401)
Is Stealing Wrong?
Stealing has been recognized as wrong for millennia – Even extremely wrong: “If a man practices robbery and is captured, that man shall be put to death. And he that has received the stolen property from him shall be put to death” (Code of Hammurabi, 6 & 22 – c. 1700 B.C.).
More familiar to us is the seventh commandment, “You shall not steal.” (Exodus 20:15)
Pope Leo XIII even warns us that divine law forbids “us in severest terms even to covet that which is another’s“. (Rerum Novarum, 11)
In fact, “There is no culture in which theft and the abuse of property are legal; human sensibility, in fact, is very sensitive in regard to the defense of property.” (Pope Francis)
Stealing is destructive of social order and the Common Good.
Why is Shoplifting Wrong?
SHOPLIFTING HURTS THE POOR
Widespread shoplifting impacts the poor disproportionally. It results in store closures in poor areas where residents do not have the means of easily accessing alternative sources for needed products.
Pope Leo XIII correctly foresaw that if private property was taken from rightful owners, it would be the poor who would suffer the most. (Rerum Novarum, 5)
“The first and most fundamental principle, therefore, if one would undertake to alleviate the condition of the masses, must be the inviolability of private property.” (Pope Leo XIII, 15)
SHOPLIFTING VIOLATES THE RIGHT TO PRIVATE PROPERTY
“Private Ownership is…in accordance with the law of nature.” It “is derived from nature, not from man.” (Pope Leo XIII, 9; 47)
“The seventh commandment requires…respect for the right to private property”. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2401)
“The right of private ownership…has permanent validity. It is part of the natural order”. (Pope St. John XXIII, 109)
SHOPLIFTING VIOLATES HUMAN FREEDOM
“Private ownership must be considered as a guarantee of the essential freedom of the individual”. (Pope St. John XXIII, 109)
Private property “should be regarded as an extension of human freedom.” (Gaudium et Spes, 71)
“The exercise of freedom finds its guarantee and incentive in the right of ownership.” (Pope St. John XXIII, 109)
Private property is “fundamental” – a requirement “for the autonomy and development of the person.” (Pope St. John Paul II, 30)
SHOPLIFTING HURTS THE COMMON GOOD
Private property contributes “in the most unmistakable manner to the peace and tranquility of human existence.” (Pope Leo XIII, 11)
“Private ownership [is] an indispensable element in a true social order.” (Pope St. John XXIII, 109)
“Private property…constitutes one of the conditions for civil liberties.” (Gaudium et Spes, 71)
The Bottom Line on Shoplifting
The rise of rampant, brazen shoplifting and its normalization in attitudes and laws that disregard the right of private property weakens social bonds and results in harm to those most vulnerable in our society and, ultimately, to all.
